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The City’s Stormwater Management Program works to control and reduce the discharge of fine sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants from private lands and City streets and facilities into our streams and beaches along the Lake Tahoe shoreline.

What causes stormwater pollution? Land surfaces which are covered by buildings and pavement don’t allow rain and snowmelt to soak into the ground. The increased runoff discharges into storm drain systems and carries increased amounts of sediment, nutrients, pesticides, salts, automotive fluids, oils and pet wastes into local surface waters. The increased pollutant loads of fine sediment particles and nutrients carried in urban runoff have been confirmed to be the major cause of the loss of clarity in Lake Tahoe.How to Reduce Stormwater PollutionThe CSLT Stormwater Ordinancestates that “Nothing but rain water or snow melt may be discharged into a storm drain. It is harmful and illegal to discharge waste, wash water, cleaning fluids, or other materials of any kind into the storm drain system.” As a resident, business, or construction site in South Lake Tahoe there are certain practices you can follow to ensure you are observing the regulatory requirements and helping to keep our stormwater clean.

Click on the links below to find more information and useful resources:

Things You Can Do at HomeThere are several simple changes to your home, auto, and garden care that can help to keep our stormwater clean.

Business Practices Proper cleaning, maintenance, and liquid storage practices in the workplace can help prevent stormwater pollution.

Construction SitesStormwater pollution can be reduced at the construction site by following several construction site BMPs and the City of South Lake Tahoe Public Improvement and Engineering Standards.

Pollutant Load Area MapThe Pollutant Load Reduction Model (PLRM) was created to determine which areas within South Lake Tahoe were contributing higher pollutant loads to the lake. This helps us decide which improvement projects will be most beneficial.

Regulatory Requirements Stormwater runoff discharges in the City are regulated under state and federal laws through National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System (MS4) discharge permits. This permit was issued to the City by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and requires the City to take certain actions in order to meet the requirements of the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Some of the requirements include:

develop and implement a pollutant load reduction program to reduce the discharge of fine sediment particles to Lake Tahoe by 10% in the period from 2004 through 2016;

prohibit non-stormwater discharges;

minimize potential adverse impacts from new development/redevelopment; and

increase public awareness about the effects of urban runoff on surface waters, and encourage behavior to reduce pollutant discharges.